This year, Morrisville residents will see the Town Center move from plans to reality as it rises out of the ground. 

Unlike other Western Wake towns, Morrisville doesn’t have a downtown or central gathering destination. The Morrisville Town Center will change that. 

The first phase is expected to open in 2027. 

“This is probably the most significant project the town has undertaken in the last 25 years,” said Morrisville Town Manager Brandon Zuidema in an interview with The Line.

It’s been a long time coming. The plan to create a town center goes back to its adoption by the town council’s predecessors, the Morrisville Board of Commissioners, in 2007. The project broke ground in September last year. 

The guiding principles, Zuidema said, have stayed the same:

  • To create a higher-density town center than combines residential, office, retail, and civic facilities
  • A mix of uses consistent with the town’s identity and quality of life
  • To leverage public investment to attract private investment
  • “Preserve Morrisville’s historic crossroads architecture and small-town feel.”
  • Connect communities through Greenways, parks, trails, and sidewalks
  • Establish spaces for recreation, community gatherings, cultural events, and the Western Wake Farmer’s Market. 

The total project will span a 25-acre area, and the total cost is anticipated to be an estimated $20.9 million dollars, with the largest amount from bond proceeds. 

The newly-formed district, when complete, will encompass more than just newly-built amenities. It will include a historic church, a historic house, the already-built dog park, library, and the Indian Creek Trailhead and Park. 

This year, if you drive by the site or visit the Morrisville Community Library on Town Hall Drive, you’ll see two separate but contiguous projects, Zuidema said. 

The Town Green, which is where the healthy food hub and farmers market was, is under construction. It will include public art, a stage, a lawn that holds up to 2,500 people, a play area, and the Western Wake Farmers Market and Educational Garden. 

That part of the Town Center project also includes four buildings with a shared common space. Each building will include two “cottage retail” spaces–1,250 square feet each for the eight spots in total. 

Zuidema hopes the businesses include a bike shop, given its proximity to Greenways that connect to an eight-mile network. A bakery or a brewery are two other potential businesses envisioned for the retail spaces to make it a place where people can gather seven days a week. 

The cottage retail will open up to the Town Green, which will include a stage and a social district, so people can grab a beverage and catch a performance or live music. It will be managed by Singh Development, through a public-private partnership.

You’ll also see construction this year for a multifamily residential development by Singh next to the library with an enclosed parking deck, adding 100 spaces for town center use. 

“It’s going to be exciting to see this project coming out of the ground,” Zuidema said.

Previously in The Line‘s What’s Coming to Western Wake in 2026 series: Salem Street’s transformation, upscale Indian restaurants expand, affordable housing gets collaborative and creative. 

A version of this story ran in the January 29 edition of The Line.